Chapter 7: Teaching Difficult Academic Material

The thing that meant the most to me in this chapter was that almost all of the students suggested that the teacher use activities that use the information to help them understand it. Regardless of the material covered the suggestion was something active. These suggestions ranged from a simple diagram to illustrate a concept in math to inviting someone into the class in full Civil War costume and in character.

This is important because the best way to really understand something is to do it. If a student is actively using a concept it becomes real. They are also able to make connections to things they already know. One of the saddest things about the budget crunch is that there are not enough resources for science classes to do as much hands on learning as the teachers would like, so we need to be more creative in finding ways to make the learning relevant.

Chapter 6: Motivation and Boredom

The thing that jumped out at me from this chapter was a quote by Andres. He said "In seventh grade my grades started slipping, I noticed I had a lot more freedom, and I stopped doing my work. But they kept on passing me, even though I wasn't doing anything. It's not like it was about my learning, it was about moving us through to high school. I hated that."

This struck me because it is so sad. These teachers probably thought they were being kind to him, by not allowing his bad choices to have serious consequences, but in reality they were doing him harm. A few bad grades in seventh grade, even to the point of having to repeat the grade, would help him realize that, when he did eventually buckle down and get some work done, the grades he got meant something. They were something he could be proud of.

Chapter 5: The Individual and the Group

In this chapter, one of the sections deals with using open-ended questions to stimulate participation. When there are no wrong answers, the more quiet students are not as afraid to participate. Care must be taken to be sure that the most vocal kids do not dominate the conversation. When a quiet student raises their hand they should take precedence.

I really appreciate this advice because I tend to feel most comfortable with the students that are vocal. Perhaps this is because I used to be one of the quiet ones and have worked hard to overcome my fears, and the vocal students tend to cover any residual awkwardness. I understand the quiet students but I don't know how to help them.

Chapter 4: Creating a Culture of Success

I found it interesting that many students find it uncomfortable to be singled out for praise as well as criticism. Some teens, especially in the inner city, tend to get angry at those who enjoy school and are successful. There is a real social backlash against those who want to learn. Even within their own family there is often resentment and abuse if a student gets notions of success above their 'station'.

This is a sad state of affairs. In a country where we have the opportunity to be anything we want to be if we want to work hard enough at it, to have so many children give up on that hope in order to be accepted by their peers is heartbreaking. Even in a rural school like here in Farmington, there is a social backlash for students that are too eager to learn. A football player can brag about his performance at the game last night, but a good student can't brag about getting an A on their paper. Many students hide their good grades so the others won't see. Changing this dynamic in even one classroom could change the world.

Chapter 3: Classroom Behavior

The thing that struck me most about this chapter was how important it was to the students that the teacher respect them. All of the techniques and suggestions in the chapter were designed to help the students feel that the teacher respects them. If that respect is there the students will be more cooperative.

Many people think that by the time kids get into High School the influence of adults is minimal and they only care what their peers think. Treating them like they have something valuable to contribute gives them the self confidence they need to take risks and succeed. Because they want our respect, they will go out of their way to earn it. But if they feel they are unfairly treated they will be resentful, and will behave worse.

Web 2.0 Educator

The educator I picked was Karl Fisch. He recieved a B.S. in Mathematics Education at Northwest University, and a M.A. in Education with the University of Phoenix. He is the Director of Technology and an Algebra teacher at Arapahoe High School in Centennial, CO. He recieved the 2009 Edublog Lifetime Achievement Award.

He is a strong advocate for bringing technology into the schools and has a very clear vision of where the world is going with technology and how education will need to adapt to be able to prepare students for the world that will emerge from all of this change. He calls this 2020 vision.

His blog for his Algebra class is amazing. He reviews what was covered in class and lists the homework so those who were absent can keep up, and those who missed or forgot it would have a reminder. He takes time to tell the students why the things they are learning have relevance in the world to give context, and reviews his classes with comments on how successful the class was and where he needed to improve in his teaching. He states goals for the class, the school, and his personal life. I don't know how long this takes him but it looks like it is worth every moment. Communication is an important key to having a successful class and he definitely excels at it.

Type I and Type II Technology

The two types of technology applications refer to the amount of change they make in how we teach.
Type I technology uses new tools to accomplish the same tasks as before, making them just a little easier. These programs are largely controlled by the programmer. Examples of this are math fact drills, solitaire games, data entry programs.
Type II applications are those that are improved ways of teaching, emphasizing critical thinking skills and problem solving. They are controlled by the user and encourage them to think in new ways. These include blogging, research on the internet, and music and movie editing programs.
References:
Maddux, Cleborn D., and D. LaMont Johnson. "Internet Applications of Type II Uses of Technology in Education." Haworth Press Inc. New York, NY, 2005

My MEL experiences

Student/Teacher Relationships: Mrs. Winter was my English teacher for my Freshman and Junior years. She was tough but fair. She was an older woman who seemed on the surface to be very stern. As the year progressed however I discovered that she had a wealth of humor, she just expressed it in a more subtle way. As we read various books, she would laugh at the same things I did-no one else got it. I felt like she understood me.
Helping Students succeed:
Hands-on: My favorite part of science classes were the labs. I loved being able to really see what we were learning about. If I could touch it, draw it, even smell it, it became more real to me and I was able to make connections with the rest of my life.
Learning Styles:
Interest: Most English teachers that my children have had seem to choose books that are the most depressing ones they can find. They all choose from the same short list, for example: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (all the characters are despicable so it is really hard to relate to any of them), Lord of the Flies by William Golding (makes students think that all society would be run by the playground bully if left to themselves-no belief in the nobility of the soul and the tenacity of human goodness when confronted with evil), and The Pearl by John Steinbeck (there is no point in fighting the system-evil men will always get the best of you so your only hope is to keep your head down and hope they don't notice you). English majors love these books, but most teenagers don't. For less than enthusiastic readers it is enough to make them decide never to read a book again. My children are all avid readers, but they hated the assigned books. There is so much wonderful literature out there that is uplifting and inspiring that never seems to get a hearing such as: The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien (the main character grows stronger and gains insights, skills, and confidence as a result of being put in extraordinary circumstances), Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place (a story of the courage of a family during WWII who hid many Jews from the Germans), and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (the story of a family of sisters who worked, played, and fought together through a difficult time in their lives). These books do not minimize the difficulties of life, but they model positive actions and attitudes they can emulate to make them better learners as well as improving their corner of the world and make it better for their having been a part of it. Allowing students to choose from a wide variety of good literature helps to keep their interest and ensure that they will continue to read even after class is over.
Autonomy:Dr. Ron Butler was my professor for Evolutionary Biology. A large part of my grade was a 15 page research paper. Even college students are often overwhelmed by the thought of a paper that big, especially science majors. In the instructions for the paper, Dr. Butler provided us with a list of possible topics and we were to choose one of them. I found this very useful because I always have a difficult time coming up with a topic because there are too many possibilities. Working from a list, I had a finite amount of ideas which was easier to narrow and choose a topic from while giving enough variety that everyone could find something interesting to research.
Connections:My chemistry teacher used a lab workbook to direct her labs. They included detailed instructions and questions used to direct understanding of the process being studied. We just followed the directions and answered the questions. However, I didn't get as much out of them as one would think because I couldn't make connections to what I was supposed to be learning. I was always worried that I wasn't doing it right or that I would get a question wrong rather working on understanding the concept. I found that there was no substitute for teacher instruction. When the teacher helped me find the relevance of a piece of information and put it in context I was able to really understand and become more interested in the subject.
Context:

Chapter 2, Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness

The thing that struck me about this chapter was that the students were able to articulate the difference between liking and respect. They expressed that they preferred to have a hard teacher they hated at first but could respect and trust, to one that they liked but didn't challenge them enough.
If a teacher's prioity is for the students to like them, then they will do things that diminish the students respect and they will have already lost the most important tool in teaching. I will try very hard to be fair with my students; but will challenge them to do their best and not accept less. To do any less is to cheat them of the opportunity to become more than they were.

Chapter 1, Knowing students well

The thing that jumped out at me was that the students wanted the teachers to be familiar with the neighborhood where they live. They want the teachers to understand where they come from but they also don't want them to make judgements about them based on where they live. Conversely they do not want the teacher to come to their home.
This part made lots of sense. Teachers walk a fine line as mentors. Children want to be understood, but they want to control the amount of personal information that is conveyed. Finding a good balance between showing interest and respecting privacy is a critical skill for a new teacher to develop.

Learning Style Inventory Results

Your overall scores:
Visual Style	15	/ 20
Aural Style	13	/ 20
Verbal Style	13	/ 20
Physical Style	13	/ 20
Logical Style	14	/ 20
Social Style	9	/ 20
Solitary Style	12	/ 20

Here are my results for the learning styles inventory found at learning-styles-online.com. The results were a little surprising. As expected Visual and Logical styles got the highest scores but I wasn't expecting the verbal, physical, and especially aural styles to get as high a score as they did. My verbal skills are more in reading than hearing words or writing. I have a hard time processing spoken directions. I understand far more if I can read along with them. Many of the questions contributing to the aural style score had to do with music. I love music but don't have a natural talent for it. I was basically tone deaf as a child. I have spent a lot of time developing an ear for music and now have some proficiency. The physical style scores that I got were for fine motor and tactile tasks rather than gross motor tasks (art, handling things to see how they work, etc). I feel like many of the styles overlap and contribute to each other. They intertwine and cannot be taken by themselves. The myriad combinations explain the dizzying variety of approaches to learning. Each person is unique in the way they best process information.

Introduction

This is my new blog for my EDU 221 Technology and Classroom Management section with Dr. Theresa Overall. This is the place where I will put many of my responses and results from classroom projects and homework.